Wood Flooring With FRTP Underlay for Truck Trailers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional truck trailer flooring, such as hardwood, lacks adequate water resistance and flexibility, leading to potential damage from road contaminants and wear, while existing reinforced solutions like fiber-reinforced thermoset plastics are heavy and inflexible.
Innovation Solution
A reinforced wood flooring system featuring a wood member with a fiber-reinforced thermoplastic (FRTP) underlay, which is lightweight, flexible, and water-impermeable, enhancing the flooring's strength and durability by allowing it to flex without separating from the wood member.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If conventional hardwood flooring is used in truck trailers, then the flooring provides desirable strength and stiffness, but it lacks adequate water resistance and flexibility
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies composite materials by bonding a fiber-reinforced thermoplastic (FRTP) underlay to the bottom surface of wood floorboards. This creates a composite structure combining the strength and stiffness of hardwood with the water resistance and flexibility of thermoplastic materials, resolving the contradiction between maintaining strength while improving water resistance and flexibility
2Reliability
If fiber-reinforced thermoset plastic laminates are used for reinforcement, then water resistance is improved, but the flooring becomes heavy and inflexible
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameter from thermoset plastic to thermoplastic resin. Thermoplastics have lower density and better flexibility compared to thermoset plastics while maintaining water resistance. This parameter change resolves the contradiction between improving water resistance and reducing weight, as the thermoplastic underlay provides the necessary water barrier without the excessive weight and rigidity of thermoset alternatives
3Strength
If a thick underlay is used to enhance strength, then flexural strength improves, but the underlay cannot flex with the floor board without separating
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a thin film approach with an underlay thickness of 0.003 to 0.1 inches. This thin flexible film provides sufficient strength enhancement while maintaining the flexibility needed to move with the floorboard during normal operation. The thermoplastic material's inherent flexibility allows it to conform to the floorboard's movements without separation, resolving the contradiction between strength and flexibility
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The FRTP underlay provides significant improvements in flexural strength and water resistance, making the flooring more resistant to damage and wear, while reducing weight and improving fuel efficiency, thus offering a superior performance without sacrificing durability.
Implementation Method 1
An essentially water impermeable underlay may be adhered to the bottom surface of the wood member
Data Source
AI summary
An example reinforced wood flooring for use in forming a truck trailer or container floor may include a wood member. The wood member may include a plurality of wood strips that are attached together. The wood member may also have a top surface and a bottom surface. An essentially water impermeable fiber-reinforced thermoplastic underlay may be adhered to the bottom surface of the wood member.